Dealing with loss of wages after an accident at work

For anyone suffering as a result of an accident at work, there are a whole host of issues to deal with. Apart from suffering from the effects of the injury, pain, discomfort and emotional distress, a real problem for many personal injury compensation claimants is how to manage financially if the injuries are serious enough to prevent you from working and therefore, from getting paid the salary that you are used to. Obviously, if you can’t earn a living, you’ll be feeling stressed, anxious and worried as to how you will keep a roof over your head or buy food for the family.

Any successful claimant can claim expenses and lost income on top of getting a settlement to cover the extent of their injuries. These elements are the basis of a personal injury compensation settlement. However, the process of claiming can take some months and there is no quick fix to cover the loss of income.

In serious cases, if someone injured in an accident at work is likely to be off work for a considerable period of time, there is a possibility that your solicitor will be able to obtain an interim payment from the liable 3rd party insurers that could help in the short term with regards to enabling you to pay your mortgage or rent and cover basic bills. Of course, you can also claim benefits from the state should you be medically deemed unable to work.

The part of a personal injury compensation claim that covers lost income (and other losses/costs incurred as a result of the accident) is known as the special damages claim. A key factor that helps people pursing accident at work compensation (and other injury types too) to ensure that they can successfully recoup any losses and lost income is for the injured claimant to keep notes as to the costs that they have incurred and also to be able to demonstrate what they usually earn when they can work, and what they have been receiving either on benefits or statutory sickness pay since the accident. If successful with the claim, your solicitor will be able to claim back the difference between what you should have had and what you have actually received. There is also interest payable depending on how long it takes to settle the claim.

If you are worried about how you will cope with lost wages after an accident at work, or you’re helping a friend or family member in that position, the best way is to not delay making a claim. The quicker we get started and you get a solicitor, the better.

About Ian Morris

I've been involved in the management of personal injury claims for nearly 20 years. Outside of work, I'm married with 2 beautiful daughters. I love surfing, snowboarding and spending time with my family. You can find me on Twitter.

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Questions & Answers

Vasi Jassoo 4th June 2020 at 12:19 pm

I work in Sainsbury warehouse. I was using a forklift to lift a pallet. The pallet was not organised properly as the toilet roll was placed at bottom and drinks were on top. It fell on my thigh and caused my ankle to twist. I have been off work for two week. I am getting one third of my salary while I am off from work. I had online physio consultation from the insurance company. Do you think I am eligible to claim full salary since the accident happened at work ? This incident happened before but no one was hurt. Please advise?

My initial view is that you should make a claim for personal injury compensation to recover your lost income and also compensation for the injury caused to you. The loading of the pallet that you describe indicates that there was negligence in this matter and as the incident had happened previously (albeit without injury), the employer should have ensure that this didn’t happen again.

We can help you make a claim for personal injury compensation on a No Win No Fee basis and doing so does not affect your employment rights in anyway. Please call our team on 01225430285 or if you prefer, you can either ask us to call you or make further contact with us by email to: justice@direct2compensation.co.uk

Injury and work preventing me from working and why bein off sick terminated my contact for failing to turn up to a disciplinary why i was off sick and in discomfort injury claim put in and liability admitted

If your injury was caused in a non-fault accident, you can make a claim for personal injury compensation. If you haven’t already got a specialist Solicitor acting for you in your claim, we can help you with that and you can call us on 01225430285.

For advice regarding your employers decision to terminate your employment and whether or not they acted legally in doing so, it would be sensible to approach a specialist employment law Solicitor for specialist advice.

I have a Car accident claim going on and i have been advised to accept an offer, in the loss of earnings section it states an amount and says next to it to be paid to me and my employer? does this mean this amount is split equally between us both i am a bit confused to this part

If an employer has incurred costs as a result of the negligence that caused your injuries, in theory they can recover their loss in your claim also. However, they cannot recover monies due to you.

As an example, if your employer paid you in full whilst you were off work and your Solicitor was able to recover that pay, that would be money for your employer and not you – as you cannot expect to be paid twice.

I work as a carer and injured my back and shoulder whilst doing manual lifting and moving on my previous shift. I have been at this job for 10 months and the family initially trained me how to handle and manoeuvre. My injury occurred when I told them I was in pain but they requested that I continue my duties and a further injury was sustained. After my injury I was in severe pain and unable to complete the last day of my working shift – we then had training by a recognised body and they confirmed that it was clear how I had sustained an injury as the training I had been given was not adequate to safeguard me from injury. The trainers suggested ways that would make the handling safe for both me and the person I was taking care of. My employers said that they did things differently and that I should not change how I do the care even if I am shown differently by the trainers.

I was in pain for my 3 weeks off shift, visited the Doctor who sent me to physio, then I was given a sick note as my back was not healed enough to return to work. I have no work contract so I received only statutory sick pay. Now I have returned to work, it is clear that none of the practices suggested by the trainers have been put in place and my employer expects me to continue as normal. I am still in pain with my back and I don’t know what to do. If I leave I will lose money and will not be able to get a new job until my back is healed. Also I am concerned that I would not get a good reference for future jobs, even though I have done nothing wrong. This is my first care job. I appreciate your advice.

Pursuing a claim for personal injury compensation is a legal right that is afforded to every worker injured in a non-fault incident at work within the UK. If you were to make a claim, your employer could not legally discriminate against you or provide a poor reference for doing so.

Given the apparent failings of the employer to provide adequate and correct training and then requesting that you ignore the training that you have subsequently been given, it would appear that you have valid grounds to pursue a claim against your employer. If you would like to look further in to this and attempt to pursue your claim, please call us on 01225430285.

On 9th January My husband put a formal grievance in against his line manager. The same day he went off sick from work due to the stress. He received a letter from a senior manager confirming receipt of the grievance on 12th January and asking if he wishes to proceed. My husband replied yes and he would like to be contacted via email or phone. The company have not done anything about the grievance to date nor contacted my husband. They have sent a letter stating that his company sick pay has now ended (3 weeks) and that he will now be receiving ssp. This is the only communication received from the company. Where does he go from here? Can he claim loss of wages as he cannot go back to work until the issue is resolved. And due to their lack of reasonable timescale of dealing with the grievance. He has no wages

He cannot claim loss of wages as things stand because nothing has been proven in terms of employer negligence. Should he wish to discuss a potential claim for work related stress compensation, your Husband should complete and return our initial questionnaire on this claim type. Our specialist can then review this for him and advise as to whether or not a No Win No Fee claim against his employer could follow.

Make sure that your report to your Manager is made in writing. You should expect a response from your employer outlining their view on the issues you have raised and whether or not they will take any steps to reduce the concerns you have.

I have had an injury at work. In mid February I had my right hand crushed. I have had 2 operations and due a 3rd operation on the 3rd of June. My earnings immediately went to half and now this morning been told is now dropped significantly to a quarter of my usual earnings a month. I am frustrated to be in this situation and now I am fretting and worrying like I have never because of this hammer blow

I live by myself so bills will be due very soon and I am going to be cornered because of the financial situation this will cause. I am considering selling things to help with some cash flow just to get some food in and help with the travel costs to Norwich hospital (that I have been making nearly every week) to have my injury assessed. Not sure what you think or can do in my situation, I am starting to feel trapped and anxious on top of my injury.

Your loss of income caused by your nasty injury at work is something that can be resolved in the long term, by making a claim for compensation. If you were to succeed with a claim, you would be well compensated for the nasty hand injury and for the future impact that this will have on you, as well as recovering any lost income or incurred costs.

Coping with a loss of wages after an accident work is a very common stress that our claimants discuss with us. Sadly, there is no obligation on employers to pay staff their salary whilst they are off work due to injury or illness – even if that was caused in an accident at work. That you have received half pay and now quarter pay clearly shows that you are losing income.

Your rights in this regard are to make a claim for compensation for the injury you sustained at work. Whether or not you have a valid claim is not something I can say for certain at this stage because I don’t know how or why your hand was crushed. However, you clearly have a very serious injury given that you’ve already had 2 surgeries and await a 3rd.

We would very much like to speak with you to find out more about your work and your accident so that we can advise you and if appropriate, place your claim with our specialist Solicitors in order that they can pursue your claim for compensation and also recover any lost income caused by this accident.

I had a slip on new flooring at work back in October 2018. As a result of this I injured my back causing me to have several weeks of work. I visited my doctor who advised me to take time off to recover and also went in to see our occupational health nurse at work after a request from our HR department, who also said I should take a further 3 weeks off for time to recover from my injury, and that he would inform the company of his decision. During my time off I also came in to see the works physio twice who on first visit wouldn’t do anything as at that time I was waiting to have an x-ray on my back and second time did nothing because he said he didn’t have time. I visited our occupational health nurse again after returning to work earlier than expected as I didn’t renew my absence from work note from my doctor as i felt better at that time, our occupation nurse put me on reduced hours and stated that he would Email managers and state that i should only do light duties also for this period. From the moment i returned to work i was back on normal duties as if nothing had happened, this caused a lot of discomfort and pain during work hours for another few weeks, through all this i was only paid sick pay for the time i was off and did not receive full pay after an accident at work, I was told by our senior HR representative that i only received sick pay because i brought in a sick note from my doctor, after i explained that i was off after an accident at work and not off sick he just stated… but you brought in a sick note!! There was 2 witnesses that heard me fall and saw me get up and also another colleague that had slipped on the same floor but didn’t report it. Many have said that I could put in a claim for loss of earnings, damages etc. I would just be happy with getting back loss of earnings from this if possible, after all.. if I hadn’t slipped at work causing the damage in the first place i would of been at work and not lost any pay. Is there anything I can do?

Whether you are off work through an injury or illness caused at work or due to any other reason is irrelevant in UK law. Employers are not required to pay usual salaries to any employees who are off work through injury or illness – unless they opt to include such benefits within their contract of employment. Unsurprisingly, most employers in the UK opt against providing full salary during ill health and as a result, for people who are injured in an accident at work it is common for a loss of income during the period of absence from work. Indeed, the only route most UK workers have to recover lost income after an accident at work is through claiming compensation. However, to recover lost income one must succeed with a claim for accident at work compensation.

In your case, you may have a valid claim against the employer if it can be demonstrated that the cause of your injury was negligence. You mention that you slipped on a new floor surface. What caused you to slip? If you are of the view that the floor was excessively slippery and dangerous, we would need to show that the employer either knew of this slipping risk and failed to act upon it by providing warning signs or safety matting or that they failed to assess the risk. Do you know if anyone else had slipped on this floor? Do you know if the employer has done anything since your fall to try to make sure that this won’t happen to anyone else?

i had a fall at work preforming an emergency moving and handling procedure to save a residents life. i have been left unable to work due to my injuries i have soft tissue damage and a fracture to my left hand and an injury to my pelvis tissue and muscular damage. off work between 3/6 months only receiving ssp. my employers have offered that i use next years holiday entitlement and also a loan to which i could pay back.

The employer is free to make such an offer to you and you are free to accept that, if you felt it acceptable. However, is next years holiday entitlement as a financial value going to really ease your situation? Given the severity of your injuries and the lengthy enforced loss of income caused by your accident at work, wouldn’t your interests would be better if you could recover your lost income? Have you considered making a claim for compensation?

The option to take action to seek compensation for injuries sustained in an accident work on a No Win No Fee basis is in place for people in the exact situation in which you find yourself. If you believe that your accident (and therefore injuries) was avoidable if some further items had been put in place by the employer. For example, if you were not adequately trained to do the work you were tasked with doing or left understaffed and without important provisions and equipment, you may be able to demonstrate employer negligence and make a legitimate claim for accident at work compensation. If successful with a claim in your situation, you could recover substantial damages for the injuries you have sustained and also recover any and all lost income caused by the accident. Of course, to be successful, an employer will have to admit to negligence and admit liability.

I would be very happy to chat with you about your accident and help evaluate as to whether or not you can pursue a claim for accident at work compensation. If you would like some further help, please email your contact number to me: ian@direct2compensation.co.uk

I had an accident at work where I crushed my right index finger which was treated with an operation to put a screw in the finger, the bone would not heal so last week I had to have the tip of my finger amputated. I am unable to do my job but have been told I can only get ssp which is not covering my bills. Is there anything that I can do.

You can pursue a claim for compensation after the injuries you have sustained in this accident at work. If the cause of the injury can be attributed to a lack of employer training, or employer negligence – such as a failure to provide the correct safety protections you would be able to claim compensation for the damage to and loss of the top of your finger as well as recover all lost income caused.

Injuries to the fingers can lead to substantial settlements in claims for personal injury compensation. As you have lost part of the finger, you have lost part of your dexterity and grip strength. As such, a permanent injury and one that will impact your day-to-day ability and is likely to affect you at work. Therefore, it is important that you are provided with expert specialist legal representation – something you can be sure of with Direct2Compensation.

Hi I have been dealing with mental health problems and recently at work I was threatened with violence, on more than one occasion I reported to my boss who ignored the situation after a few times of this happening. I made a formal complaint about the boss and the person involved with making the threats, due to stress I was signed of work and put on statutory sick pay, can I claim back my wage due to this being out of my control?

The scenario you describe does not fit the criteria for a personal injury compensation claim. However, you may well be able to take some action if employment law has been breached. As such, we would strongly advise that you make contact with a specialist in employment law to discuss this matter.

Hi, I was off work for 8 days with a work related back injury. When I returned I was told that because I work out of hours (3pm till 10pm) that I would have to change my shift to 10 till 5 for my own safety. My contracted hours are 3 till 10pm. I am contracted to get travel allowance for each shift that I work (usual times), this has been stopped because my hours have changed and I am losing money every day I continue with the day shift. Can they do this?

Your employer appears to be attempting to ensure your safety by having you operate the earlier shift until you have fully recovered. Perhaps there are less staff and less first aid trained operatives on the later shift. As such, your employer may well be within their rights to do what they have done. Although you are losing income/allowances regarding this change, it may be the safest decision.

However, all is not lost as you could seek to recover your lost income by pursuing a claim for compensation against your employers for the cause of the back injury at work that lead to you having to take 8 days off work. If you were to succeed with such a claim, you would be able to obtain a settlement that adequately compensated you for the injury to your back and recover all lost income, shift allowances and travel fees that have only been lost because of the accident in which you were injured.

We would suggest that you get in contact with us in order that our team can discuss your working environment with you and the cause of your accident. In just a brief 5 minute telephone conversation, we would be able to identify whether or not your employer has been negligent in anyway and whether or not you can make a claim for compensation.

I had an accident at work in 2013, where I had two broken legs, a broken wrist and I was in hospital for three months. I’d also hurt my neck, back and have been struggling ever since. On October 2nd 2017, I had the pins removed from my left leg, but I’m still not right and have ongoing pain. I stop-start when walking and I have fallen three times since they were removed.

I have tried to do some types of work, but I can’t bend down without pain and I fall asleep a lot. Standing and sitting are both painful for me. I settled my claim because my solicitor said there was no more that they could do for me as the payment was only about £25,000 short, so I accepted what was offered to me. I just wanted to know if there is anything else that I can do to seek further damages, because I can’t now earn a decent wage because of my disability.

It is almost impossible to seek further damages after a full and final settlement has been agreed and signed for by a claimant.

In your case, the best thing to do would be to contact your former Solicitor to discuss the matter with them.

You are of course able to seek state benefits and you should investigate your options in that area as it could be that you are deemed to be unfit for work through industrial disablement and entitled to relevant benefits.

I was bulled at work by one of the managers, they have completed a 6 months investigation and have agreed that there is a case for him to answer, this happened in july 2015 and i have been off sick since then with work stress, they have paid me 80% of my pay which is classed as an Injury payment, but they have not been taking any pension from me, which I contacted them and they said that I have not received work pay so this can not be take, do I have a case?

I am really sorry to hear that you have suffered such an appalling situation by way of being bullied and poorly treated by your employer. It would be fair to say that by also losing income as a result of enforced absence from work, just rubs salt in to the wounds.

If you would like to call us on 01225430285 we can discuss your situation in confidence as there may well be something that our specialist solicitors can do to reclaim both your lost income but also claim compensation for the psychological injuries (emotional trauma/stress/anxiety) caused to you by the way your employer treated you.

I tripped at work. Causing soft tissue damage and bruising to my hand and elbow. I work as Quality control Inspector in a fresh produce company. Checking pallets of fruit on intake arrival. I was checking pallets for traceability and tripped on the Pallets Buffers against a wall. Resulting me having to go to hospital and losing 3 weeks pay. My Company has said I’m only entitled to SSP.

Thank you for asking us a question about your situation after you’re accident at work. As with the vast majority of people that contact us for advice or support after an accident at work, the biggest problem for you on a day-to-day basis is now coping with a loss of wages whilst you are unable to work because of your injuries.

Sadly, your company may well have no responsibility to pay you your usual wages and they are most probably fully entitled to switch you to SSP. You should check your contract of employment to find out whether or not you are entitled to sick pay at your usual rate.

Whilst receiving SSP is better than nothing, it is certainly nowhere near enough for people to live on and pay their usual bills. WIth this in mind, you may be able to recover your loss of income if you make a claim for personal injury compensation. In many cases, people who are injured in an accident at work are motivated to make a claim for compensation simply because they have lost income and have no other way of recovering their losses. Successful claims for compensation after an accident at work can see the claimant receive compensation for their injury (the value of which is worked out on the basis of medical evidence), rehabilitation therapy and most importantly, a special damages claim where they can reclaim any lost income (the difference between SSP and usual income) as well as any other losses and costs incurred because of the injury.

We would be very happy to speak with you to discuss your accident in detail.

I’m sorry to hear about your accident at work. We’ve handled claims of a similar nature on a number of occasions – people who have slipped on the footplate of trucks, wagons, vehicles, forklifts etc at work. Employers have a duty of care to ensure that so far as is possible, all risks of injury are removed from the workplace. When it comes to slipping on a footplate/step of a vehicle, the employer should ensure that the step has a non-slip surface if possible and that employees are wearing suitable footwear (i.e that employees are advised as to what footwear is acceptable and what is not). If your employer hasn’t provided a non-slip step surface and the training/advice provided to you and colleagues is insufficient in terms of safety at work, you are likely to have a strong claim for compensation. Indeed, we have succeeded with the vast majority of such claims that we have pursued for claimants.

Claiming compensation for your injuries after an accident at work will also enable you to make a special damages claim. This enables you to reclaim any lost income on top of the compensation settlement you would receive for your injuries. Whilst this is not a quick fix to your immediate problem – coping with the loss of income whilst you cannot work, it does mean that you can have hope of recovering this income in due course.

We would certainly be willing to assist you with a claim for compensation should you so wish. Any such claim would be made against your employers liability insurance policy, so it does not affect your employer directly and would definitely not cost anyone their job. We run ALL claims on a No Win No Fee basis, so you have nothing to lose by attempting to recover your losses. Whilst we cannot guarantee that we will win any claim, we guarantee that you will never face any costs should your claim for compensation fail.

Whilst loading beds on to a transit van the portable ramp slipped from the top step to the second step which resulted in a hernia developing. i am currently out for 4 weeks whilst awaiting surgery and then off for an undisclosed length of time for recovery. Due to the nature of my work, i am not able to return to work for light duties. i have been told i will be paid ssp but this doesn’t even cover the rent, let alone other bills….

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Sadly, having to cope with the stress a temporary loss of income is a common thread we hear from people who, like you, contact us after an accident at work.

You could certainly make a claim for accident at work compensation – this would be against your employers insurance (employers liability insurance). Any claim (if successful) would enable you to claim a level of compensation to cover the pain and distress caused by your injury, but more importantly allow you to reclaim any lost income. You should certainly note any loss of income and keep a record as this would be used in your claim to enable you to claim special damages (lost income and costs).

It is important to make sure that the details of your accident and the cause of your injuries (the faulty ramp) within your employers accident book. If this has not already been done, you should contact your employers at the earliest opportunity to report your accident correctly. A good way of doing so is to email them outlining the details of your situation. You can then keep a copy of your record in your ‘sent emails’ folder for future reference – this could be very helpful to any future claim for compensation.

We would certainly be keen to assist you with a claim and can link you up with the right specialist injury compensation solicitor. May I direct you to follow this link: where you can submit a claim enquiry with more information so that we can contact you to help you get your claim up and running.

35 questions on this article

I would just like to comment on the excellent service I have received from direct2compensation. My call was answered promptly and I was put in touch with the solicitors to deal with my case who have done so efficiently and without complication.

This is a really good service to use when you require advice, help and compensation after an accident.

M. Cluett – Dorset

Thank you for sorting my accident claim out for me. I’m super pleased with the outcome and the settlement has come at a handy time and will help me and my family this year. The process was so easy, I expected some hassle, but both Direct 2 Compensation and the firm that you placed my claim with handled things really well. I was surprised at how quickly the claim settled. Thanks again, much appreciated.”

Nat Dymer

I’m not one who would look to claiming for anything as I believe that you should earn anything you receive, but for this matter I felt different. Although the compensation settlement can’t take the memory of the nasty accident away, it gives me more freedom to grow my own business, which gives me time with my baby boys. Thank you Ian and your team, I highly recommend them.”

Melany K Dunn

Thank you so much for your help these last couple of weeks. It’s been a pleasure to work with you and I can’t thank you enough for all your advice and help you have given me to help me proceed my claim. Hopefully the Solicitors can help me get what I deserve from this matter. At the end of the day I’m not in it for the compensation, I just want the wages I’m owed. It’s been a very stressful few weeks. Thanks again!